Seasonal Tie-Ins

I just returned from the beautiful island of Aruba, walking the beach each day, and seeing the effect the world economy was having on tourism and business in general on the island.

The beaches are almost empty, and from what I hear from the Aruba Hotel Association, the island is experiencing a 45% reduction in tourism.

Besides the hotels low occupancy rate, the restaurants are virtually empty. The deteriorating world economic condition is affecting everyone.

So you might be asking what do season tie-ins have to do with the economy? Well I was there during the holiday season and I didn’t see any businesses taking advantage of season tie-ins. Yet, in looking at the state of affairs on the island, it is indicative of most of the countries in the world.

The various businesses, whether they were catering to the local Arubans, or the tourists, should have been capitalizing on the season to increase sales. Unfortunately, they didn’t.

People are very aware of holidays and the seasons and tend to be very responsive to offers that logically are linked to any of them.

There are dozens of holidays you can choose from. Think of ways to tie your business or products into the seasons or holidays.

Here’s one example. Send out a mailer to your customer data base and say that because of the spirit of X-Holiday, you would like to give them a special gift. Take whatever you have to offer and package it into an offer that your customer can’t refuse.

Or let’s say you do home cleaning. You can make a tie-in with Spring, which is just beginning.

Here’s what you can say: “We will give your home a complete spring cleaning for ‘half price’ and help you to permanently ‘resign’ your position as home cleaner at a surprisingly low cost.”

Again, the same approach can be used at any time. In September, for example, you can make the same offer for getting the home ready for Thanksgiving.

I’m sure you get the idea. So start thinking of ways to tie in the seasons with your product. Let me know some of the ways you implement this idea.